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Psalm 2:8

Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

6“Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”
7I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.
8Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
9You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
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Notice

The nations are promised as an inheritance to God's king, making the scope of his rule larger than any one country's borders or ambitions.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What changes in your reading when you identify the king as the one told to ask?

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Which nation comes to mind when you read “the uttermost parts of the earth,” and why?

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How does the warning about the rod of iron shape your understanding of this promised possession?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 22:27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.Both passages reach to the ends of the earth, naming nations as the king's inheritance and as worshipers before the LORD.
Psalm 89:27I will also appoint him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.God grants royal standing in both passages: possession of the nations in Psalm 2 and supremacy among earth's kings in Psalm 89.
Psalm 72:8He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.Both passages describe a king's rule extending to the ends of the earth.
Psalm 82:8Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations.Both passages join inheritance with the nations, with Psalm 82 addressing God as the one who inherits them all.
Romans 4:13For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he would be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.Both passages describe a promised inheritance with worldwide scope, though Romans names Abraham and his offspring as heirs.
Revelation 7:9After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing …The nations appear in both passages: as the king's promised inheritance and as the peoples represented before the throne and the Lamb.
John 17:4–5I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.Both passages speak of something God gives: nations as an inheritance in the psalm, and work to accomplish in John.
Revelation 2:26He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.Both passages promise authority over nations, though Revelation addresses the one who overcomes and keeps the speaker's works.
Daniel 7:13“I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought …Psalm 2 speaks of asking God; Daniel describes approaching the Ancient of Days, without mentioning nations in this verse.
Isaiah 9:7Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and …Both passages ground royal rule in God's action: God gives the nations, and the LORD establishes and upholds David's throne.
Isaiah 49:8The LORD says, “I have answered you in an acceptable time. I have helped you in a day of salvation. I will preserve you and give you for a covenant of the …Both passages connect God's giving with inheritance, though Isaiah speaks of the people inheriting a desolate heritage.
Isaiah 53:12Therefore I will give him a portion with the great. He will divide the plunder with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was counted with …Both passages describe God granting a share or possession to someone, though Isaiah ties that gift to suffering and intercession.
Where this verse fits

Praise and worship. fear for the future. sermon or Bible study notes.

What the Bible says about worship →What the Bible says about fear →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 2:6–10 and mark who receives the promise

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Encouragement

God addresses this promise to the king he has set in Zion. The nations fall within God's authority to give, even to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 2:8. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 2 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).